Restarting Issues

Cannibalsnail · 01-27-2009, 03:49 AM

This problem has plagued me for quite a while now. Orginally I was playing Oblivion and after a while (10 mins or so) my computer would restart. I dont know if there was a blue screen of death. Now recently I upgraded my Graphics card to x1950 with pixel shader 3.0 and Im trying to run Farcry 2 and it restarts on the loading screen. I tried disabling all overclocking and setting all settings to lowest but it makes no difference. Please somebody help!

My system specs are:
Pentium 4 3GHZ (socket 478)
2GB of DDR400 Memory
Sapphire Radeon x1950 AGP
250GB SATA HDD
DVD-RW drive
DFI LANparty 875B motherboard
Windows XP

**Aus_Karlos** · 01-27-2009, 03:56 AM

Hi Cannibalsnail and welcome to TSF,

Make sure your PC is not overheating by checking the temperatures with a program called Everest which is in my sig.
Record temps at idle (PC not doing anything) and the at full load (or when playing games) Minimize the games after 5mins or so.
Post back.

Cannibalsnail · 01-27-2009, 04:02 AM

I cant as im not on my computer but I dont think heat is the issue as it doesnt happen with other games like Crysis. A friend claims its my RAM but is this possible. I do have two sticks of old RAM that are about 3-4 years old.

**Aus_Karlos** · 01-27-2009, 05:31 AM

It can never hurt to check.
However there is a RAM test called Memtest86, which is also located in my sig. You will need the Free ISO which you need to burn to a blank CD. This will run before Windows does to test your RAM.
You are required to test one stick at a time. To do so you need to physically remove one of the sticks and then power up your PC. Make sure your PC is switched off from the wall you can leave the plug in to make sure your PC is earthed.
The test can take longer than 30mins per stick, you may need to run the test in 2-3 loops to get correct results.
You will know when you get an error.

Cannibalsnail · 01-27-2009, 06:09 AM

Why is everything so difficult? Ill try the tempature and RAM test tommorow. If anyone else has an easier idea than thatll be great. Thanks for the help Aus_Karlos anyway.

p.s. If anyone suggests its a power issue I have a 550 watt PSU

**koala** · 01-27-2009, 06:19 AM

What graphics card did you upgrade from? If it was onboard graphics, did you upgrade the power supply unit (PSU) to cover the new card's increased power requirements?

Remove the side panel from the case to see the label on the side of the PSU. Post back with the make/model, total watts and +12V amps.

While the case is open, check all the fans to make sure they are clean and spinning. If you haven't cleaned out the case in the last few weeks, blow a can of compressed air around the fans, heatsink and card slots. If your problem is caused by high temperatures, this will help reduce them.

What speed is AGP set to in BIOS? (x2, x4 or x8)

Also in BIOS, is 'AGP Fast Writes' enabled or disabled?

Have you installed the latest graphics driver or are you using the one that came on the card's CD?

Cannibalsnail · 01-27-2009, 06:36 AM

Okay. Nope I had an X800 (for sale if anyones interested) and a 550 watt PSU is sufficient. Ive cleaned the fans and theyre all spinning. I have 5 btw. AGP doesnt have a speed setting but what should I set the Aperture size to? I have a 512MB of GFX Memory. Ill check the AGP fast writes. should it be enabled or disbled?
And finally I have the latest graphics drivers.

01-27-2009, 03:49 AM	#1 (permalink)
Cannibalsnail Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 40 OS: Win XP My System	Restarting Issues This problem has plagued me for quite a while now. Orginally I was playing Oblivion and after a while (10 mins or so) my computer would restart. I dont know if there was a blue screen of death. Now recently I upgraded my Graphics card to x1950 with pixel shader 3.0 and Im trying to run Farcry 2 and it restarts on the loading screen. I tried disabling all overclocking and setting all settings to lowest but it makes no difference. Please somebody help! My system specs are: Pentium 4 3GHZ (socket 478) 2GB of DDR400 Memory Sapphire Radeon x1950 AGP 250GB SATA HDD DVD-RW drive DFI LANparty 875B motherboard Windows XP

01-27-2009, 03:56 AM	#2 (permalink)
Aus_Karlos Moderator, Games Team Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Western Australia Posts: 3,449 OS: Vista Ultimate x64, Windows XP 32-bit/64-bit, Ubuntu x64, Windows 7 x64 Beta My System Blog Entries: 2	Re: Restarting Issues Hi Cannibalsnail and welcome to TSF, Make sure your PC is not overheating by checking the temperatures with a program called Everest which is in my sig. Record temps at idle (PC not doing anything) and the at full load (or when playing games) Minimize the games after 5mins or so. Post back. __________________ MemTest86 / Nvidia Drivers / ATI Drivers / DirectX 9.0c / Sys Requirements / Everest Folding@Home

01-27-2009, 04:02 AM	#3 (permalink)
Cannibalsnail Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 40 OS: Win XP My System	Re: Restarting Issues I cant as im not on my computer but I dont think heat is the issue as it doesnt happen with other games like Crysis. A friend claims its my RAM but is this possible. I do have two sticks of old RAM that are about 3-4 years old.

01-27-2009, 05:31 AM	#4 (permalink)
Aus_Karlos Moderator, Games Team Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Western Australia Posts: 3,449 OS: Vista Ultimate x64, Windows XP 32-bit/64-bit, Ubuntu x64, Windows 7 x64 Beta My System Blog Entries: 2	Re: Restarting Issues It can never hurt to check. However there is a RAM test called Memtest86, which is also located in my sig. You will need the Free ISO which you need to burn to a blank CD. This will run before Windows does to test your RAM. You are required to test one stick at a time. To do so you need to physically remove one of the sticks and then power up your PC. Make sure your PC is switched off from the wall you can leave the plug in to make sure your PC is earthed. The test can take longer than 30mins per stick, you may need to run the test in 2-3 loops to get correct results. You will know when you get an error. __________________ MemTest86 / Nvidia Drivers / ATI Drivers / DirectX 9.0c / Sys Requirements / Everest Folding@Home

01-27-2009, 06:09 AM	#5 (permalink)
Cannibalsnail Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 40 OS: Win XP My System	Re: Restarting Issues Why is everything so difficult? Ill try the tempature and RAM test tommorow. If anyone else has an easier idea than thatll be great. Thanks for the help Aus_Karlos anyway. p.s. If anyone suggests its a power issue I have a 550 watt PSU Last edited by Cannibalsnail; 01-27-2009 at 06:14 AM.

01-27-2009, 06:19 AM	#6 (permalink)
koala Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: UK Posts: 12,350 OS: XP/7/Ubuntu My System	Re: Restarting Issues What graphics card did you upgrade from? If it was onboard graphics, did you upgrade the power supply unit (PSU) to cover the new card's increased power requirements? Remove the side panel from the case to see the label on the side of the PSU. Post back with the make/model, total watts and +12V amps. While the case is open, check all the fans to make sure they are clean and spinning. If you haven't cleaned out the case in the last few weeks, blow a can of compressed air around the fans, heatsink and card slots. If your problem is caused by high temperatures, this will help reduce them. What speed is AGP set to in BIOS? (x2, x4 or x8) Also in BIOS, is 'AGP Fast Writes' enabled or disabled? Have you installed the latest graphics driver or are you using the one that came on the card's CD? __________________ New members: Subscribe to your thread (Thread Tools) to receive an instant email notification when you get a reply. TSF Folding@Home Team 85015 - details here

01-27-2009, 06:36 AM	#7 (permalink)
Cannibalsnail Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 40 OS: Win XP My System	Re: Restarting Issues Okay. Nope I had an X800 (for sale if anyones interested) and a 550 watt PSU is sufficient. Ive cleaned the fans and theyre all spinning. I have 5 btw. AGP doesnt have a speed setting but what should I set the Aperture size to? I have a 512MB of GFX Memory. Ill check the AGP fast writes. should it be enabled or disbled? And finally I have the latest graphics drivers.